It was a fun, free time. As kids, there was not a lot of trouble we could get into on the farm. Remember I told you yesterday that we had 15 acres and a 100-year-old house? Well, that house had a huge kitchen (at least it was big to me), and the big feature was a big black stove that served as a cook stove, a heat source, and a place to dry clothes. There was a rope strung across the room over it. Off the kitchen was a pantry with a long slate sink and a cold-water faucet.
I remember times when my Saturday bath was in an army-surplus fold-up tub, with many pots heating the water. Our kitchen had a cold-water faucet when the well didn’t run dry. If that happened, we hauled water in those huge metal milk jugs from the artisan well down the road. The first year after I graduated high school, I worked at the shoe shop, paid to have a well drilled deeper, and turned the pantry into a bathroom. And no more, dry well.
Our house had central heating from a large wood stove located in the closet between the kitchen and the living room. The upstairs bedroom was somewhat finished, and the light could be turned on from the downstairs light switch, if you remembered to switch it off upstairs in the morning. When my two brothers moved out, I inherited that private room, Yay! Until then, I slept on an army bed in the tiny bedroom next to my parents’ bedroom, which allowed traffic to the barn.
We spent many months exploring the attic of the building between the house and barn. Our discoveries were fascinating. An “Old Richards Almanac,” which was a reprint, so not valuable then, but now? We found many Women’s magazines, and in the barn, we found a Surry (a small wagon) with fringe. Of course, we didn’t have a horse, so we would pull it down to the lake behind our house to carry supplies for ice-fishing. One of the things we found was a huge hardback book of the railroad survey across the U.S., and a Congressional book from a congressional meeting. And if you are wondering if we kept them and what the value was, our house burned down when my little girl was about 4, so we will never know.
Now I think I need to change the subject to one of my books. I think since every pseudo-publisher in the world wants to sucker me into allowing them to get my “book” ready to pitch to a Movie producer! Guys, lay off! The least you could do is know which of my books you are trying to pitch! Once burned, twice shy! If you do not know or care what my name is or what my book’s title is, forget it.
You can find all my books at http://www.brendacolbathbooks.com and at my bookstore at Books.by/brendacolbath, where you will find many books with free shipping worldwide. I publish with Draft2Digital, who distribute to the following sites: Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Everand, Smashwords, Tolino OverDrive, bibliotheca, Baker & Taylor, BorrowBox, Hoopla, Vivlio, Palace Marketplace, Odilo, Gardners, and Amazon.
Happy Reading, will see you next time with a rant or more of life on the farm.
Your childhood seemed delightful. Too bad about the fire, some of those valuables probably would have enabled you to renovate the whole place. Thanks for sharing.
I agree, but life is strange! Just when you think you are down and out, things change. There were many things that were wonderfully delightful, looking back to that time when the U.S. was innocent! I sincerely hope you had some of those times to remember. I also hope that the U.S. can partially get back to those innocent times.